Food storage bag

ABSTRACT

A collapsible bag is disclosed having a handle and a compartment attached to the handle, the compartment formed of nine panels comprising front and back trapezoidal panels, a rectangular bottom panel, and left and right triangular expansion zones, each triangular expansion zone formed by an isosceles lower triangular panel and first and second congruent, scalene triangles. The expansion zones occur below a midpoint of the height of the compartment and distributes more space near the bottom of the bag while narrowing the bag at the top of the compartment. Moreover, the distance between the top of the isosceles triangular panels when the bag is open is greater than a width of the rectangular bottom panel and less than the handle width.

BACKGROUND

This invention relates generally to food storage bags, and more particularly to a food storage bag that is deeper at the bottom and narrower at the top, while continuously widening from a base to a handle, to effect a more efficient design.

Most food storage bags lay flat when empty and comprise two square or rectangular sheets overlaid on top of each other and sealed at their respective edges to form a symmetric pouch. When filled, the base of the bag becomes distorted by the expansion at the bottom of the bag leading to puckering at the sides and difficulty closing the bag. Other bags have a dedicated flat bases and have four walls corresponding to parallel front and back panels, and parallel left and right side panels. This configuration presents a problem for closing and sealing the top of the bag, which has a large opening that can be difficult to seal. A problem with both of these types of bags is that the largest cross sectional opening is at the entrance (and the base) of the bag. It would be advantageous to have a bag that narrows at the upper edge and widens at the base, and expands laterally when filled near the base to allow the contents to stabilize near the base where it is easier to store and carry. The present invention addresses this need.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is a food preparation bag that includes a handle, and front and rear panels that cooperate with a flat base to form a compartment with a triangular profile. The sides of the bag expand outward to increase the volume of the bag near the base using a set of three triangular panels on each side. The width of the expansion zone is greater than a width of the base, and less than a width of the handle. In the empty and flattened state, the bag's base folds inward and the bag shares a plane with the plane of the handle. When expanded, the bag widens from bottom to top in the front view and narrows from bottom to top in the side view. The result is a more efficient, more stable bag that is easier to load and holds more than traditional food preparation bags.

These and other features of the present invention will best be understood with reference to the detailed description of the inventor's preferred embodiments, along with the accompanying figures, the description of which is presented below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an elevated, perspective view of a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a front view of the embodiment of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side view of the embodiment of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a top view of the embodiment of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a bottom view of the embodiment of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a front view of the embodiment of FIG. 1 when the bag is empty and flattened; and

FIG. 7 is a side view of the embodiment of FIG. 1 when the bag is empty and flattened.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIGS. 1-7 illustrate a first preferred embodiment of the present invention comprising a food storage bag 10 that has a flat base and a narrow top to accommodate contents disproportionately distributed closer to the bottom of the bag. The bag 10 includes a handle 12 in the form of a rectangular panel 14 with an elongate opening 16 that permits four fingers to slip through and grasp the handle. Below the handle 12 is the bag compartment 18, separated by a sealable closure 19, wherein the compartment 18 is formed by nine panels consisting of six triangular panels, one rectangular panel, and two trapezoidal panels. The compartment 18 has a larger cross sectional area above the base 20 that expands to symmetric expansion zones, and the width of the compartment continues to expand to the width of the handle 12 at the top of the compartment 18. Because the bag 10 is symmetric, corresponding left and right components and corresponding back and front components share matching element numbers.

The base 20 of the bag is formed of a flat, rectangular panel 22 having a front edge 24, a rear edge 26, a left edge 28, and a right edge 30. This base 20 allows the bag to stand upright when empty or full to allow the filling of the bag to be more hands-free. As seen in FIG. 7, the bag when laid flat allows the base 20 to fold inward along a centerline into symmetric half panels 34 so that the entire bag flattens out into a plane. The plane, which is a plane of symmetry of the bag in the full or empty and collapsed condition, includes or is coincident with the plane of the handle 12. The width of the bag 10 from left edge 28 to right edge 30 can vary from embodiment to embodiment depending on the use of the bag.

The compartment 18 is formed by front and rear panels 36 that are trapezoidal in shape and extend from the handle 12 to the base 20. Upper edge 38 attaches to the handle at the upper edge of the compartment 18 at the sealable closure 19, and the lower edge 40 of each trapezoidal panel 36 attaches to the respective front or rear edge 24,26 of the base 20. Each trapezoidal front and rear panel 36 also include respective side edges 42 such that the adjacent side edges 42 of each front and rear panels 36 and the associated left edge 28 or right edge 30 of the base from a triangle. This triangle attaches to three smaller triangular panels 50, 52, 52 to expand the compartment 18 adjacent the base 20 of the bag 10. The triangular panels 52 are congruent, scalene, and share common edge 56, and the triangular panel 50 is isosceles with a height that is less than a midpoint of the height of the compartment. Together the three triangular panels 50,52,52 establish a lateral expansion 62 of the bag's compartment 18 that has a width that is greater than the width of the base 20 and less than the width of the handle 12. As particularly shown in FIG. 2, the top 62 of the isosceles triangles define a width therebetween that is greater than the width of the base 20, but less than the width of the handle 12.

The bag 10 has a width at the rectangular bottom panel 20 that is greater than a depth from front to back of the rectangular bottom panel. In a preferred embodiment, the bag is symmetric about two planes and, as shown in FIG. 3, maintains a triangular profile below the handle 12. The angle α that the isosceles triangle makes with the base is greater than the angle β that the centerline 56 makes with the base 20 (see FIG. 6).

In other embodiments, the dimensions can be varied to create larger or smaller compartments, or compartments that are wider at the bottom or more toward the center of the compartment. Accordingly, while various embodiments have been depicted or described herein, the invention is not limited to the exact depictions or descriptions unless expressly stated. Rather, the invention is measured by the construction of the appended claims using their ordinary meanings, consistent with but not limited by the disclosure herein. 

1. A flexible, collapsible bag, comprising: a handle having a handle width and an elongate hole extending laterally; a compartment attached to the handle, the compartment formed of nine panels comprising front and back trapezoidal panels, a rectangular bottom panel, and left and right triangular expansion zones, each triangular expansion zone formed by an isosceles lower triangular panel and first and second congruent, scalene triangles; and wherein the distance between the tops of the isosceles triangular panels when the bag is open is greater than a width of the rectangular bottom panel and less than a distance between respective tops of the left and right triangular expansion zones; and wherein, when the flexible, collapsible bag is in a collapsed state, an angle β that a common edge of the first and second congruent scalene triangles forms with the edges of the adjacent isosceles triangle is less than an angle α that a centerline of the rectangular bottom panel forms with the edges of the adjacent isosceles triangle.
 2. The bag of claim 1, wherein the bag collapses when empty into a single plane where the rectangular bottom panel folds into first and second symmetric halves.
 3. The bag of claim 2, wherein the width of the rectangular bottom panel is greater than a depth of the rectangular bottom panel.
 4. The bag of claim 3, wherein the greatest width of the expansion zone falls below a midpoint of a height of the compartment.
 5. The bag of claim 1 having a plane of symmetry coincident with a plane of the handle.
 6. The bag of claim 1, wherein the compartment maintains a triangular profile below the handle when in an open configuration. 